Monday, June 01, 2009

A Petty Distinction

Lori Petty was arrested on suspicion of a DUI after she hit some skate border the other day. While all this is undoubtedly a negative experience for Petty; for someone with as faded a career as her, the old maxim: "there's no such thing as bad press" couldn't be truer. I had completely forgotten about her existance for probably a couple of years until I caught the headline on yahoo! late yesterday night. Also, going by the recent pictures, I suspect that she may be dying her hair and becoming Joan Jett on the weekends (I suspected she was also Susan Powter but apparently Susan re-started the insanity and is now sporting multi-colored dreds). The thing that really caught my eye was how the headline ran along the lines of: "Point Break Actress Arrested for DUI". The AP article that most online news outlets link to also introduce her as "'Point Break' actress Lori Petty."

I would have to disagree with most of these articles. If there was any definative magnum opus for which Lori Petty should be forever defined by, it has to be "Tank Girl". Every news report, gossip rag, obituary should be identifying her as "'Tank Girl' actress Lori Petty". You might have an outside argument for referring to her as "'A League of Their Own' actress Lori Petty" (which a few outlets have used) but she was merely a supporting character among a wide ensemble cast. Lori Petty was Tank Girl, all 104 terrible and obnoxious minutes of it. Frankly, I'd be more comfortable if the media just referred to her as "Tank Girl" rather than by her actual name.

While I'm sure her recent guest appearances on "House" and "Prison Break" we're solid and I do remember her being the voice of the villain "Livewire" on the Superman cartoon, but barring some sort of highly unlikely career renaissance Ms. Petty's professional zenith was 14 years ago sitting on top of that tank talking to Ice T in some hideous mutant dog costume. I mean if Michael Beck got arrested for a double homicide, would be refer to him as anything but ""The Warriors' actor Michael Beck"? Or if Wes Bentley was found strangled to death in his home would the headline or article not contain the phrase "'American Beauty' actor Wes Bentley"?

One hit wonders are not just limited to music.

2 comments:

  1. I've always had a huge problem with the casting of Lori Petty in Point Break to begin with. Keanu was probably one of the ten prettiest dudes on the planet in 1991, and we're supposed to believe that he's gonna rob a bank and jump out of a plane for the ugly sister from A League of Their Own? Unlikely.

    It's one of the main advantages that the movie's spiritual successor, The Fast and the Furious, can boast over it--Jordana Brewster was a woman highly deserving of mimbo Paul Walker's position-compromising attention.

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  2. hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

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